Ukranian Billionaire Wants $21.5M for Versailles-Style Pad

April 12th 2015

New York Daily News

By Katherine Clarke

Finally, a Manhattan apartment that’s fit for a king — King Louis XIV, that is.

Ukrainian fertilizer billionaire Alexander Rovt is getting serious about selling his Neoclassical Versailles-style townhouse on the Upper East Side, putting it back on the market for $21.5 million, down from an initial ask of $27 million, the Daily News has learned.

The business magnate has also switched representation, swapping Daniel Messing of Piquet Realty for Jason Haber of Warburg Realty.

Rovt snagged the 12,000-square-foot master of the universe-type property, at 232 E. 63rd St., from Benihana restaurant founder Rocky Aoki for $4.7 million in 2005 — then proceeded to redo it top to bottom to mimic the First Empire style of the 17th-century seat of the French monarchy. The renovation is said to have cost $18 million.

“You don’t see Neoclassic design in Manhattan townhouses because it’s just too complicated,” Haber told the Daily News. “This was a global pursuit to find materials and artisans who could do this work. Everything is hand-picked and custom made.”

Security is also paramount in the 15-room house, especially for a billionaire tycoon such as Rovt. There’s a high-tech security system with hidden cameras throughout the house and retractable bulletproof metal shades for the rear windows. There’s also a cigar and billiard room, a movie screening room, a study, a private garage and an outdoor roof terrace.

The piece de resistance? A basement spa with a pool decorated in hand-glazed glass tiles, a sauna, a hot tub and a massage room.

Rovt’s hoping to sell the palatial property to someone with similarly Gaulish tastes, since it would surely be a shame to trash millions of dollars in custom moldings and hand-painted murals.

“It would be an act of vandalism,” Haber said.

Oddly, Rovt never actually lived in the 25-foot house, since he found an even bigger one half way through the five-year renovation. He bought the 36-foot wide Sloane Mansion on E. 68th St. for around $33 million and is now in the midst of a similarly ostentatious renovation.